Popular Culture Review 30.2
when he insists on “ must have .” Instead of opening up a story , “ must have ” closes it down , or completes it in a way satisfying to the biographer but not to “ setting the record straight .” In other words , Donaldson is deeply implicated in the mythical approach he is supposed to be debunking . Apparently , in this instance , judging by Hadley ’ s letter to Ernest , she is praising him for resisting Irene Goldstein ’ s advances , although Goldstein said the opposite�that Hemingway flung himself at her . Donaldson is sure that Hemingway is lying since the biographer asserts in an equivocal sentence : “ Manifestly , Ernest liked pursuing ( or even better , being pursued ) by two or more women at the same time .” That can be documented , yes , but the generalization nevertheless may or may not apply to the Goldstein case . We don ’ t know if Hemingway was the pursuer or the pursued . We know that later on Pauline Pfeifer pursued him . So nothing really is resolved . To sum up : Donaldson is in no better position than his predecessors , and his book is not a matter of “ setting the record straight ” but instead is , like every other biography , a construct and persuasive up to a point , and when he pushes beyond that point , he is in trouble with the truth .
I ’ m not picking on just one instance of a “ must have ” lapse . Hadley , we learn , was upset over Ernest ’ s frequent trips abroad on reporting assignments . When he broached the idea of a five-month separation from her to do reporting in Rome , Donaldson observes : “ Hadley must have been distressed about the proposal , but she struck exactly the right notes in her comments about it .” The biographer believes she is a good sport , hiding her anxieties by saying she would miss him “ pretty frightfully ” but hoped the trip would produce a “ great gain ” in his career . So Donaldson pretends to know what she is actually thinking from what she does not say . What she thought , really , cannot be known , or perhaps was
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